Furry side up
by babyshinx
Summary: Gibbs shows up in the Navy Yard with a dog that isn't as golden and furry from the inside as it seems. The team sets off to find a reason for the sudden transformation of their very special agent DiNozzo as well as a cure for his dilemma.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** This is something I came up when I was trying to avoid having to engage with the Real World. For now it is simply a draft and it hasn't been beta'd at all. Whether I come back to this at all in the future is up to my muse.

* * *

As it was not an everyday occurrence for the Navy Yard to receive canine visitors, there was a curious buzz at the gate already when Gibbs drove in. He seemed completely unfazed by the big golden retriever sitting on the passenger's seat, pressing wet nose prints onto the window. The dog was unlike any of the golden retrievers one typically saw in the showring. He was lean and muscular but not bulky and a deliciously deep shade of gold with dark, clear eyes.

Once the car was parked, Gibbs got out and in the next moment grabbed the dog's collar before it could run away. He never disappeared for good, but on a busy car park Gibbs didn't want to take any chances. After all, Gibbs needed his senior field agent in top condition at all times.

The moment they stepped into the elevator, the warm hand on the collar loosened its hold. It caused the dog to look up, ears perking slightly. Apart from that there was no obvious interaction between the two until Gibbs marched into the bullpen to find the rest of his team gaping at them. That made the older man frown as he spread his arms, looking at his agents like they had gone out of their minds.

"McGee, pull up any medical records on Tony's parents and grandparents. Look for any genetic disorders," Gibbs ordered, almost tripping on the dog that had now left his side and was taking in the environment in the bullpen. "Ziva. I want you to go and buy dog supplies," he added, right after heading to the elevator.

"DiNozzo, with me!" Gibbs concluded when he was almost in the elevator already. That caused the golden retriever to bounce after the older special agent, slipping into the elevator just in time to avoid getting his tail stuck between the doors.

The interaction between Gibbs and the dog of course caught Ziva and McGee's attention. They both looked at each other with puzzled expressions, even thought the same thing, but neither of them said it out loud. It would mean they admitted they might be a little superstitious, because surely such transformations were not achievable through the general science. Instead Ziva grabbed her gear to get to the task of buying dog supplies while McGee started the search for Tony's relatives.

One floor down Gibbs and his loyal canine companion had made it into Abby's lab. It had ended up with Abby squealing and hugging the dog around the neck like an excited child on a Christmas Eve. In turn the dog had licked her face in excitement, although Gibbs had ended that soon by stepping in. Dog or not, Gibbs still saw his senior field agent in it and the thought of Tony licking Abby's face was not something he wanted to think of right now.

"I didn't know you had adopted a dog," Abby grinned, her tone almost accusing Gibbs of not telling her first. "I thought you never took pets because of how rigorously you work and the hours you spend here. And what if you have a case that requires your attention for days, who is going to take him out for walkies?" she babbled and looked like she could continue for hours, but Gibbs quieted her by lifting his hand up.

"I didn't adopt a dog, Abbs. This is DiNozzo. He showed up on my doorstep with this little furry problem of his and we need to get rid of it," Gibbs explained, sighing a little bit. There was a moment of silence as Abby took in the information.

Gibbs had known that if anyone was going to believe it straight away, it was Abby. She had a soft spot for all things mysterious and magical even though her career suggested otherwise. "But Gibbs! This could be anything! He could have, you know, supernatural powers or it could be black magic or something he ate or a genetic defect or anything," she frowned, shaking her head a little bit. "Poor Tony. What if he has to stay like this for the rest of his life?" she sighed.

"You'd better make sure he doesn't. We are going down to see Ducky. He'll get blood and DNA samples for you. McGee's looking for any genetic defects in the family, work with him," Gibbs explained, after that placing the Caf-Pow he had brought on the table. When Abby turned around to point out that DNA couldn't tell her anything about black magic or supernatural powers, all she could see was the door sliding shut behind a tip of a golden, furry tail. She sighed, pouting as she picked up her Caf-Pow and called McGee.

While getting a DNA sample from Tony was easy enough as Gibbs just plucked a few hairs from where the fur was thicker at the dog's neck and the other barely noticed it as he was busy sniffing his way to the fresh body on the slab, getting blood from him was not as easy. Gibbs had noticed it already, but it was obvious Tony had held on to a number of characteristics from his human self. Unfortunately that included his needle phobia.

"To Abby please, mister Palmer," Ducky declared as he handed over the little tube with Tony's fur as well as the one with the blood sample. As soon as the young assistant had rushed off towards the elevator, Ducky sighed with a deep frown taking over his features.

The medical examiner had moved to the sink to clean up his equipment and hands, but started talking, "What exactly is wrong with our young Anthony? If there wasn't this exceptional connection between you two, then I might even think you are trying to fool me, Jethro. I have seen a fair share of oddities during my life, but this is remarkably unique. The only thing that comes even close to this transformation is a case I saw when I was just a wee lad and spending some time in a small village in Ethiopia after I graduated medical school. The locals believed that the reason their crops were dying and the population suffered from starvation was because one of the elders of the village had taken part in..." Ducky rambled.

A firm "Hey!" from Gibbs cut the air, both interrupting Ducky's story of how someone had probably been accused of transforming into the devil and also snapping Tony out of the mischief he had been almost been engaged in. The dog had been nosing around the (at least previously) sterile equipment on the empty slab, the tray just millimeters away from cluttering to the floor.

"We don't know yet, Ducky. My guess is as good as yours", Gibbs admitted when Tony moved away from the slab and went on to familiarize himself with the room. "Before Abby's lab results we can only guess. If it's something genetical or medical, then it most likely has a treatment," Gibbs replied. He left unsaid the fact that if Abby found nothing, then they had nothing. No evidence of what had caused it and no way to cure it and bring the old DiNozzo back. Ducky did sense that, only squeezing Gibbs' shoulder briefly. "Don't you worry, Jethro. I am sure we will find a way to bring Anthony back. And if we don't, I can't say he would be too sad. You are going to have your hands full with him, my friend," he smiled, patting Tony on his head.

Talking to Ducky had lifted Gibbs' mood considerably, so by the time he was heading upstairs with the dog, he felt like he was not going to go mental when returning to Ziva and McGee. The elevator pinged and Gibbs said nothing when Tony practically dashed out of it. No matter how furry and how golden, the dog was still Tony and Gibbs knew that while he would get in various sorts of trouble, he would not end up hurting anyone on purpose.

"Boss? I found nothing when I checked Tony's parents and grandparents," McGee informed, then looked puzzled when Gibbs simply gave him one of his stares. "B-but then I checked Tony's medical records and history and all I could get my hands on and I might have found something. Or Abby found. It might not be anything, but it's the only thing that was… hinky that we could point out right away," he explained.

"McGee! What did you find?" Gibbs asked, raising his eyebrows and tilting his head forward a little bit to urge the younger agent to go on.

"Yes. Um, I found that there's a minor defect in Tony's DNA in one specific gene. We all actually have them and the minor ones very rarely affect anything other than maybe giving you funny looking ears or asymmetric eyebrows or something like that. Abby promised she will take a closer look at it as she goes through the samples," he explained, nodding a bit.

While McGee had been talking, Tony had had time to nose around the bullpen for the second time that day and eventually had found his way to bother the Probie. McGee didn't look comfortable in the slightest with the energetic, big and bouncy dog despite his attempts to pat the dog on the head.

"Where's Ziva?" Gibbs sighed, glancing at her empty desk. Surely it wouldn't take too long to pick up some basic supplies for a dog. Gibbs got his answer when Ziva waltzed in carrying a big bag of things that she had apparently deemed necessary.

The moment Tony recognized the familiar look - or rather, the scent - he was bouncing over to Ziva, almost toppling her over in his eagerness. Canine Tony clearly appreciated getting close to people, but Gibbs simply assumed it was part of his nature. After all, there were some very obvious differences between the human Tony and the canine Tony. "

Are you sure you don't want me to put this on already?" Ziva asked as she looked down at Tony, then up at Gibbs as she dangled the leash from her fingers. "Maybe we can tie him to his desk until we get this all figured out." In addition to that she unloaded a thick dog bed, two bowls, dog food and a couple of toys from the paper bag.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **For first I would like to say THANK YOU to everyone who took their time to read this and even leave a review. I was not expecting people to like this so much and honestly this was just written for fun and giggles to begin with. The comments made me want to write more of this so here's yet another part. Still unbeta'd, but I tried to catch all typos so it should be clean when it comes to that.

Also to those who were worried, this story does not contain TIVA or any other pairings. There might be very light TIBBS, but nothing that couldn't be viewed just as a good friendship. And some of you were curious about what happened before the first episode between Gibbs and Tony, so after the main story is done, I might write some sort of prologue.

* * *

"No," came Gibbs's short reply. If they bound Tony somewhere and just ignored him it was more than likely that he would chew his way through anything that he saw or howl until someone either paid attention to him or they were all deaf. Gibbs's words had made Ziva drop the leash back into the bag and the bed was cramped into the narrow space between Tony's desk and the wall.

Gibbs ran a hand over his face, sighing as he looked at Tony who for now was still wandering around the bullpen, not showing any signs of settling down. Since early that morning Gibbs had been stressing about the ongoing situation. There were very few things in the world that could throw him off and make him feel like he had no idea what to do. This was one of those. Tony didn't look like he was suffering - if he didn't count the obvious restlessness - but Gibbs couldn't have his best agent gone like that.

"Ziva, take Tony's keys and go to his house. Treat it as a crime scene. Photos and bag and tag everything," Gibbs ordered eventually when he finally got his mind straight. He tossed Tony's house keys to Ziva, reaching for the paper bag himself.

The jingling of the keys had caught Tony's attention and when Gibbs crouched down, the canine stepped closer with his tail wagging and posture perky.

"Hey there," Gibbs murmured, quiet enough for no one else to catch on to what he was saying. He raked his fingertips through the fur in the dog's chest, waiting until he seemed to settle down marginally. Up until now Gibbs had been treating the canine as he would treat DiNozzo normally, but it was time for him to admit that currently his senior field agent wasn't there. He was there somewhere, because Tony obviously recognized his name and understood some basics, but he was not there as himself.

Slowly grabbing the collar and attaching the short leather leash onto it, Gibbs kept petting Tony around his neck. "Come, boy. We're going for a run."

And for a run they went. Gibbs had come to the conclusion that no matter what Tony looked like, he still had some basic needs. The previous night DiNozzo had been calm and more mellow, most likely a result of the hike he had taken to get to Gibbs's house in the first place. Physical exercise would wear Tony out and give Gibbs the chance to focus on the case in hand.

Only ten minutes later the two of them emerged from the building, Gibbs now wearing a more appropriate outfit for the purpose of jogging and Tony seemingly excited about going out. A little bit too excited. Gibbs wanted to go too, his mind still on the case, but he couldn't go on a run with a dog that was completely out of hand and was paying attention to everything but him.

"Tony."

Hearing his name had made Tony glance up briefly and caused him to bounce, his tail wagging as the canine was obviously challenging him to play. Instead of playing along with the goofy behavior, Gibbs stepped a little bit closer, luring Tony's nose up with one hand until he ended up sitting down. "Good boy."

Gibbs took his time, luring Tony after him along the side of the building, stepping in and making him sit a few times. By no means did Gibbs think that it would be enough for Tony to remember that particular trick for longer than maybe ten minutes, but it grasped his attention and made him focus.

When Gibbs was convinced that Tony wouldn't be running all over the place, he shortened the leash to walk the dog along the sidewalk towards the less crowded part of the city. Picking up the pace came soon enough and Gibbs was secretly very pleased with how nicely Tony was coming along. If there was a chance he ever got a dog, Gibbs wouldn't have minded a puppy like Tony.

"That enough?" Gibbs breathed out when they eventually slowed up quite a bit later. They were not back at the Navy Yard, not even close. They had come a long way, running with a steady pace the whole way barring the couple of times they had to stop to wait for the traffic lights to turn green. Now they were around the outskirts of a big park and Gibbs kept going with a slower walking pace. He let Tony sniff around as they walked to the nearby trailer café. It sold good coffee, but this time Gibbs ended up buying two bottles of water.

Only a mere two minutes later Gibbs was sitting at the end of a bench in the park, Tony sitting in front of him. He was giving Tony some water from the other bottle, although the dog ended up slobbering at least half of it down on the ground. Then again, Gibbs also had to blame himself for that. Drinking from a bowl would have obviously been easier.

Gibbs was still just slightly out of breath when their moment was interrupted by his phone going off.

"Yeah. Gibbs." It was the usual answer to any and all phone calls. He leaned back, one hand holding onto the leash while also grasping the water bottle that Tony was currently gnawing on as Gibbs watched him. Listening carefully, Gibbs started to look grimmer the longer the phone call went on. It ended quickly enough with just a few words before the phone was returned into the pocket of Gibbs's jacket.

Tony didn't seem fazed in the slightest and Gibbs had no idea if he even wanted to tell him what was going on. Nor was he sure if Tony would understand him. Considering his actions along the way Gibbs was convinced that Tony still had some of his humanlike mind there, but either it was very spotty or the puppy didn't have control over it.

"Abbs found something," Gibbs told Tony anyways, petting the dog with a gentle hand, his fingertips rubbing over the short hair around his head and underneath his muzzle. "Lots of tech talk. Seems to have something to do with your genes. Now we just need to find what caused it to activate as according to Abby there has to be something."

What Gibbs had said didn't make him feel too much better. Abby seemed to think that it could be anything from the ingredients in Tony's midnight snack pizza to physical changes in his body that had caused for the faulty gene to go from passive to active.

Tony had taken the empty water bottle from him when he had been talking in the phone, but Gibbs took it away now that he stood up. He tossed it into a bin, opening the second bottle for himself before he started to head back to the Navy Yard. If they were lucky, Tony would calm down enough to just curl up in his bed while everyone else worked.

Back at the base Gibbs got what he had been hoping for. When he let Tony off the leash in the elevator, the dog seemed almost drowsy to him. They had taken the walk back slow and there had been no sign of Tony bouncing around and Gibbs had instead been reintroduced to the more mellow side of their puppy again.

Tony trailed after Gibbs out of the elevator and when the older man guided him, it didn't take the puppy more than a few minutes to settle in his own bed. Perfect. When Gibbs turned around, he became almost face to face with McGee who was obviously confused with what was going on.

"Um… Hi. Boss. I was just going to… Did you take Tony for a walk?"

"Yes. Did Abby tell you what she found? I need you to look through Tony's medical records again, go through his yesterday's schedule and check everything he did, drank, ate or touched in the last twenty-four hours. Ziva's on her way back from Tony's place, get her to help you."

Gibbs headed down after that, leaving McGee standing in the middle of the bullpen. He looked around with a slightly confused expression, his gaze falling on Tony who had curled up in the navy blue dog bed. While the young agent liked dogs, Tony was still Tony to him and it creeped him out. He had to check Tony's schedule which required him to have access to the senior field agent's computer. Just so as not to disturb the sleeping bundle of fur, McGee decided to do it through his own computer. No need to risk waking Tony up.

Outside the Navy Yard Ziva was heading back to the base, driving surprisingly slow considering that the traffic was close to infuriating. She had finished at Tony's apartment just ten minutes ago and had everything packed and the 'crime scene' photos stored in the camera. What she hadn't expected was the almost guilty feeling she had had when going through his partner's belongings. It was an unusual feeling for her and she took advantage of the traffic to sort out her thoughts. No matter how much she taunted Tony about his private life and no matter how uncomfortably open the man was about it sometimes, Ziva still felt like it was inappropriate for her to be digging around Tony's fridge, the pile of dirty clothes in his hamper and the bedside drawer of very arbitrary items.

Because of her slow ride, Ziva had her own casual demeanor on the moment she stepped back into the Navy Yard building.

"Pizza boxes, unused packets of condoms and plenty of magazines with naked women," Ziva listed as she rounded into the bullpen and took a seat at her own desk, ignoring the fact that Tony was quiet and not bouncing around all over the place. "I honestly could not have told if I was in Tony's apartment or just visited a local teenager's room had it not been for the name on the mailbox."

"Could have been worse," McGee reminded, although honestly he was not sure if it really could have. He was just hoping that he would never find himself in a similar situation. "Gibbs wants us to go through Tony's schedule for the last twenty-four hours. Abby thinks something Tony ate or did might have activated the… doggy-gene. But it could be anything."

While the two of them set off to work, Gibbs had changed out of his running clothes and was currently walking into Abby's lab with an obligatory Caf-Pow! in his hand. After all, this was the kind of case they couldn't do sloppy work on and he needed Abby at the top of her game.

"Gibbs! I have not found anything yet. Or I found something, but not _something something_. I have both good and bad news," Abby started the moment she was handed the huge cup of her favorite drink.

"Good news."

"Alright. So I didn't really find out what caused Tony to transform, but I figured out how we can change him back. Or how he can change himself back. If what caused Tony to transform in the first place was something consumable, in other words food or beverage, then he should turn back on his own. We just need to isolate the exact ingredient that caused it to go off in the first place. Then we just make sure to screen Tony's diet and when the ingredient starts to leave his system, Tony should change back to himself over time."

Gibbs straightened himself a little bit, watching the screen of Abby's computer. It was running some sort of test results, but he honestly had no idea what it was.

"And the bad news, Abbs?"

At that Abby grimaced a little bit, her expression almost desperate as she wrapped her arms around her own upper body. "Well… If we are extremely unlucky, and it's not a consumable, then it could be that-," she started, her voice almost cracking at the thought that they might not be able to get Tony back. "I don't know if there would be a way."

Gibbs's hand ran over his own face as he squeezed his eyes shut momentarily. He stepped over to wrap his arms around Abby's lithe body, pulling her in to a hug since she obviously needed it.

"We'll get him back, Abbs."

"Promise?"

That made Gibbs pause. How could he promise Abby something when she herself had said that there might not be a way to revert it? The risk of losing one of his agents was always there whenever they went on the field, but Gibbs had never thought that it would happen this way.

"I promise."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** This chapter is late multiple days, because I have been struggling with it. I'm not sure if I'm still completely happy with it or not, but it's much better than it was when I started editing it. Again, I want to thank you all who were kind enough to leave reviews behind and took your time reading. It really is much more motivating than I had ever thought possible. So thank you and I hope you enjoy this chapter too.

* * *

While some of their cases were solved within the same day they were introduced to it, there was still a hefty chunk of those that required a good night's sleep. This case was one of those. Gibbs knew that it was important for everyone in the team to get the old DiNozzo back, but it was just as important for them to keep their cool. Tony was still there and his condition seemed stable. It was not urgent.

With that in mind Gibbs said nothing when it was obvious that the rest of the team was preparing to leave for the night. Abby came up from her lab, her excited, bouncy demeanor back on. It was relieving that no matter the situation, Abby always kept up the spirit of the whole team. Same went for now. Tony had calmed down considerably over the afternoon, but Abby still had arms full of golden fur when she made it into the bullpen.

"Hi, Tony. I am really sorry, I didn't find the thing that cures you yet, but I promise I will get back to it the first thing tomorrow. Or, you know, the first thing I do here in my lab," Abby smiled, crouched down in front of Tony to be at his eye level. She patted his head, stroking the short, smooth fur with her fingertips.

"Don't worry. You'll be back to normal in no time. And in the meantime Gibbs will take really good care of you. Won't you?"

Gibbs's lips stretched into a vague smile. He was sure that if it looked like Tony had even one piece of fur pointing the wrong way in him, Gibbs would hear about him from Abby.

"Of course. He will be sleeping on the couch and not the floor," Gibbs promised, his gaze glued onto the computer screen, only shifting down when he wrote down a phone number on a piece of paper to save for later.

McGee and Ziva had been following the conversation quietly. Despite the lack of words the surprise on Timothy's face was difficult to miss. Snickering sound coming from Ziva's way, she stood up, having turned her computer off before gathering her belongings, clearly ready to go home.

"You were not hoping to get him to sleep on _your_ couch, were you McGee?" Ziva laughed, then gave Gibbs a short nod before she was off to the elevator, not giving her teammate a chance to prove her assumption wrong.

Gibbs knew that they had not talked about who would take care of Tony if they didn't get him back before retiring for the night. He didn't think there was anything to talk about. His senior field agent had come to him for help, which secretly made Gibbs very pleased and proud. He wasn't about to let Tony out of his sight so easily, especially in such a vulnerable state.

"Go home, McGee. There is nothing more we can do tonight. We'll continue tomorrow," Gibbs decided eventually. His words didn't necessarily reflect his actions as he kept writing down phone numbers from the long list he had on his computer, skipping over certain ones, but he still stood by what he had said. By the time he was done and leaned back to stretch his back, McGee had taken his leave and Gibbs was left in the bullpen just with his puppy and Abby.

The two were getting along better than Gibbs could have ever hoped. Not that it was a big surprise since Abby and Tony connected well in both personal and professional level even when Tony was less furry and much taller. And much louder. Gibbs would have by no means changed a thing in Tony's character, but it was relaxing to see him let go for once. Lying on his side, head on Abby's lap and eyes closed, quiet apart from the quiet thumping sound his tail was making when it wagged lazily against the floor.

Gibbs stood up and stepped over to Abby, his hands going down to massage her shoulders gently through the black tee she was wearing.

"You too, Abby. There's nothing we can do overnight. Get some rest," Gibbs urged with a soft voice, crouching down behind Abby, head tilted to the side to see her face. The movement had caused Tony to lift his head and his tail had wagged harder for some moments before slowing back down again as he deemed the change mediocre enough to relax again.

Abby sighed, scratching Tony behind his ear, watching down at the golden friend of her. It was like Gibbs had said. Nothing to do overnight. Nothing good came from doing halfhearted job when it came to science and mysteries.

"Alright, Tony. I'll need to go now, but you'd better drag Gibbs to see me the first thing in the morning," Abby smiled as she ruffled her hand over Tony's chest, then taking the hand Gibbs had offered and stood up.

Only minutes later Gibbs and Tony were left alone in the bullpen, the puppy clearly confused when people around him were just leaving all of a sudden. Gibbs sighed and sat back down, running a hand over his face, eyes squeezed shut. With cases they always had something to go with. A body, a part of one, a witness, a victim or even a potential killer. Now all they had was a Golden Retriever who other people could have mistaken for a real dog in an instant. At least the rest of the team had taken his word from the beginning despite the situation being the most unreal one they had ever encountered.

The gloomy shift of the mood had not gone unnoticed by Tony who had stepped closer, his cold, wet nose poking over Gibbs's hand. It made the older man glance down, his expression both surprised and pleased, quiet laughter escaping him. Leave it to Tony to make him happy just with his nose.

"I guess it's your dinner time too, isn't it? Come, then," Gibbs encouraged, standing up with his back straight as he picked up the leash and clipped it to Tony's collar. With the bag of necessities in hand and Tony next to him, Gibbs headed down into the elevator and back into his car where the puppy took his place like he had been riding it hundreds of times already. And he had, in a way. Just not like this.

Back at home Gibbs didn't hesitate to let Tony off leash. The environment wasn't as stimulating nor was it as busy as the parking lot at the Navy Yard had been. Considerate enough to give Tony the time he needed to take care of his business, Gibbs whistled sharply when he had unlocked the door to his house. It did take Tony a moment, but he left what he was doing and trotted to Gibbs. And right past him, entering the house like it was his home.

"Don't go far," Gibbs warned as he took the bag of Tony's items into the kitchen. They had not eaten at the Navy Yard and Tony was bound to be hungry, so two bowls came out from the bag first, a can of dog food following. Until Gibbs thought about it. Even though Tony clearly resembled a dog, it still felt wrong to feed him canned food that included who knew what. Then again, the man could eat _who knew what_ as a human too, so the leap wouldn't be too big.

In the end Gibbs stored the dog food in the cupboard for a rainy day and took out the meat meant for his own dinner, glad that he generally went to the store once a week and bought enough to last him until the next time. It meant that he always had enough for one hungry puppy too. Although Gibbs had to admit that usually when he made steak for two, he didn't end up leaving one raw and putting it into a dog bowl.

With his own steak on the pan and Tony's roughly chopped to pieces, the dog was bound to smell it, no matter where in the house he had been. A telltale rapping of nails on floor was enough to alert Gibbs to the potential food thief.

Tony made it far enough to sniff around the edge of the counter before Gibbs reached over, the wooden spatula that he was holding coming to a halt right over the dog's nose. It wasn't a smack on the back of the head, but it was close enough and seemed to have the desired effect as Tony turned to look at him instead. "Don't even think about it."

After he set his own steak aside to rest, Gibbs picked up the bowl that had been empty for now. He ran the water from the tap for a good time to get it as cold as it went before he filled the bowl, setting it down. Even though this was not the ideal situation for any of them, Gibbs could still see himself getting used to this. Having someone around constantly. Except for the basement. The basement had seen its share of unwanted visitors already and a bouncy, energetic puppy dog was the last thing Gibbs wanted down there.

With his own steak done and the stove cleaned, Gibbs settled down at the table. Or at least he tried to, Tony's whining pointing out very clearly that he felt left out.

"As impatient as ever," Gibbs muttered, a hint of a smile playing at the corners of his lips despite his words. He picked up Tony's bowl, setting it on the edge of the table. Fishing a piece of meat between his fingers, Gibbs ushered Tony back as he didn't quite appreciate a lapful of puppy energy unlike Abby.

"Sit," he instructed shortly, luring Tony with the food until his butt hit the ground. He tossed the piece of meat to the puppy, patting his side gently before he placed the food down. The fact that Tony seemed trainable enough had made Gibbs curious earlier already, but he wasn't about to take advantage of the puppy like that just to have fun himself.

It was quite natural that with the way Tony was eating, he was done much faster than Gibbs was. He preferred tasting what he was eating while it seemed like Tony had just chomped down on it, licking the bowl clean to top it all off.

Gibbs had thought that begging for food would become a problem, but after a couple of very pointed looks from the older man Tony had just settled down underneath the table. It looked very uncomfortable, his head resting on one of the lower horisontal bars of the chair, but Gibbs didn't comment on it. Who was he to say what was comfortable when you had four paws and senses that humans could only dream about.

"Come, Tony." The call woke Tony up from the light slumber that he had fallen in when Gibbs had eaten and taken care of the dishes. "Last chance to go out before the night."

It was debatable whether Tony understood exactly what Gibbs had told him, but it still made him move. Leading the puppy to the door that would take him to the backyard, Gibbs opened it and stepped outside himself too. By now it had cooled down considerably as the older male leaned against the cool wall of the house, his eyes on the puppy that was clearly in a tracking mindset. What Tony was looking for, Gibbs had no idea, but it was nevertheless soothing to watch him wander. Of course it would have been even better had Gibbs known for sure that he would still see Tony as himself, but he was consciously avoiding the possibility of failure, so the thought was quickly pushed out of his mind.

Tony himself didn't look distressed in the slightest. He had zigzagged across the backyard, checking every bush, stone and patch of grass. It was not as good as the outside world, the fence restricting him, but it was still better than nothing.

"Are you done there, Tony?" Gibbs called when he was starting to feel chilly. He took some languid steps towards Tony, clapping his hands to alert the puppy. It had the desired effect as Tony practically raced his way to him, earning a thorough petting despite the fact that the cold wind was getting at Gibbs's hands.

Clapping again when he stepped towards the door, Gibbs made sure to be patient with the puppy, still immensely happy the moment they were both back inside and the door to the backyard was closed.

Gibbs's evening routine was extremely fixed when he had the luxury of being home and it didn't change just because he had an excitable dog running around at his feet. In other words it meant that almost exactly seven minutes from the moment they had made it inside, Gibbs was ready for bed.

"You are still sleeping on the couch," Gibbs reminded when he came out of the bathroom, almost running into Tony who had been sitting outside the bathroom in the dark hallway. After the collar was removed for both comfort and safety, Gibbs guided Tony downstairs into the living room. He patted the couch, his fingers scratching the dog behind the ear as he settled down at the corner. Gibbs took much longer than he had intended to, his fingers carding through the soft fur, his hand soothing over Tony's side as he curled up, clearly ready for sleep.

When it seemed like the other was already asleep, Gibbs gave Tony one last pat before he stepped back, turning off the lights so that they were left in almost complete darkness. He knew the way upstairs without any light anyways. "Goodnight, Tony."


End file.
